While collecting data for a broader health outreach program, the Association for Psychological Science discovered that sitting more than six hours a day can cause an increase in mental health issues. Over three thousand study participants (all state government employees) filled out a psychological assessment for anxiety and depression over the last month in addition to ranking their current levels of physical activity and general workplace satisfaction.

According to the results, the employees that sat six or more hours a day reported more symptoms of anxiety and depression than the ones who sat for less than three hours a day. And, the correlation was worse for women: the researchers found that women reported higher rates of sitting-related psychological distress than men. "Since men and women in our sample reported similar estimations of work stress, unmeasured factors such as work-family conflict and incorporation of work and parenting roles could be differentially affecting women," study author and psychological scientist Michelle Kilpatrick wrote.